Frozen old men

While not as captivating as its predecessor, Cryptonomicon, Quicksilver has ample passages that demonstrate the droll prolixity of its author, like this one, about an icy standoff between two official retinues too obsessed with formal posture to stand down:

"Wee drifts of wind-skimming snow had already parenthesized the cherry-red platform soles of the French delegation's boots, and inch-long snotcicles had grown from the moustaches of the English delegation."